Improvement in breech-loading



- J. E. McBETH. Breech- Loading Fire-Arm.

Patented Aug. 11, 1868.

l'i-oz erz/l ar Maw/M N. PETERS. Photo Lilhngrapher, Wnshingmn. D, C.

UNITED.- .S,TATE

JAMESI-E. MOBETH', or new Game -Lemma.

Specification formin g eat]: Letters PatntNo'. 80,995, dated August 11,1868;

To all whom it may comma lean's, and in the State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loading Fire-Arms and do hereby declare that the following'is a full, clear, and

exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and 'to the let;

ters of reference marked thereon. I

The nature of my invention consists'inthe construction and general arrangement .ofa breech-loading fire-arm inpsuch a manner that the breech is openedby half cooking-the piece; that, when the lock-box is swung down on its pivots a suflicient distanc it can be entirely removed for the purposes of cleaning or rendering the piece perfectly worthless but a spring-bolt will at the same time pre vent it from disengaging itself fromth'e piece" unless so desired; also, that theshellof the old cartridge will be ejected by the opening] of the lock-box.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe its construction'and operation, referring to the annexed drawings, which form apart of this specification, and in which-v Figure 1 is a side view of the breech, showing the lock with the lock-plate removed. Fig. 2 is a view of the inside of the rear end of the breech. Fig. 3 is a view of the rear end of the lock-box, and Fig. 4. is a view of the inside of the front end of the breech. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the front end of the lock-box, showing the pivot with its cam or lug, which operates the cartridge-ejector; and Fig. 6 is a side view of the same.

A represents the breech of my fire-arm, with the lock box or case B inserted. This box is held in its place by the bolts 0 G, which are connected by the center-piece D, swinging on the center pivot a. This arrangement keeps one bolt thrown forward and the other backward, and the ends of both the bolts outside of the case or box B, by means of the spring E pressing upward on the projecting end F of the center-piece D, and which keeps the ends of both the bolts into slots 1) and 0, cut into the front and back part of the breech, so that the lock box or case is held in position Be 1t known that I, JAMES E.:MOBETH, Of' the city of New Orleans, in the parish of Or-.

j ppe' bo w when the said box"islshutjto in' its' proper. It "also keeps the ends out whenf thef place. boxis swung out.

The ends of said' bolts C O are beveled,so that, when ,the box is being pressed intoits proper position to'close the breech, the ends striking against the solid ends of the breech] will recedefafter the fashion of 'a door lock'or bolt,and fall "into the-proper slots b and so, as

before mentioned:

There is a projection, on t he upperpartl f of the' farther side of the hammer G, which I fits to the projection e on'the lower side of the f the hammer is down on the cartridge,

' tion cl'pressesfagainst the projection e, and draws the upper bolt, and also; the underon'e, by means of the centerpiece D,' back. The spring H, which is fastenedfin the rear part of 'the breech, and works intoflacircularfre- 'cess,f, on the rear end of the lock-box, throws. the box out immediately, and before the piece is fully atahalf-c'ock'f Theprojection'jon the is hammer then passes the, projection on the up-. I per bolt, after the fashion of a key'tui-ning ii1',

a lock, the sear-spring I'falls into the halfcock, and the spring E, pressing on the projection F, throws the bolts out into their natural position.

The upper bolt is made to move up and down, and the slots in the front part of the lock-box and breech are elongated to admit of such movement, and this bolt is constantly kept pressed down by means of the spring h, so that, when the hammer is down, the projection e on said bolt will fit against the projection on the hammer, and the bolt may again be drawn back when the lock is being half-cocked. The said bolt is so made to move up, so that, when the hammer issprung, the projection on the hammer will pass the projection on the upper bolt, and when the lock is being full-cocked, and also when the hammer is sprung, the bolts are not withdrawn in the least, so that, in the firing of the piece, the lock-box is not moved from its proper position.

The projectiond on the hamm eris so rounded or beveled that, when the hammer is sprung, the rounded or beveled part, striking against In behalf-cocking ot the piece'the projee rfi the projection e on the upper bolt, causes it to rise against the downward pressure off the sprin'gh'. 1 4

The front and rear sides of the breech are provided with elongated slots 7c, open at the bottom, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, and leading up to the holes I l,.in which the pivots of the lock box work, these pivots being shaped so as to fit the elongated slots 70.

The smallspring-bolt m, at the lower right side of the back part of the breech, prevents the lock-box fi-om swinging out more than the distance of a quarter of a circle, thereby preventing the box from disengaging itself fromthe breech. If this spring-bolt is withdrawn, the box willswing around nearly half 'acircle, and the pivots '13 2' come on a line with the elongated'slots k k, so that the box can be easily removed. It is returnedto its place in the same manner.

By pulling out the lock-box a little-farther than the spring H will throw it, and farther.

than'is required to insert a cartridge,,the shell of -the old cartridge will be ejected. This I accomplish by having a shell-ejector,-J, hung on a pivot just above the hole lin the'front part ofthe breech, with a part, at, projecting downward from such hanging, in order'to receive the passing pressure of a cam, 0, attached to one side of the front pivot i on the lock-box against it when the breechis open, andpulled out, as aforesaid, to intentionally eject the cartridge. The said cam 0, pressing on the lower par-tn ofthe cartrid'ge-ejectorJ atthe cen ter of its hanging, throws the upper part forward as far as may be required, anddrawsout the cartridge-shell, the ejector Jbein'g so 1 formed that it passes to' the side of the box. This is for the purpose of drawing the can T tridgeshell out the distance required before the point which is on the rim of the cartridge passes ofl from said rim. This could not be done'were the points of the cartridge-ejector to take hold on the rim at the bottom of 'the shell.

After ejecting the old shell by the left hand 'pullingout the lock-box, as aforesaid, and it is desired to reload the piece, the same movement back on the lock-box removes the cam 0 from the shell-ejectonand'acartridge can be put in with ease, the rim catching the ejector and carrying it forward into the recess prepared; for it.

Having thus fully described my invention,

d and e and'spring H, for the purpose of openiing the breech by the half -cocking of the piece, substantially as andfor the purposes jherein set forth and described; I i

'2. The elongat'edslots k k and holes l" l,"in combination with the pivots and'sp-ringbolt m, for the purpose of'removing' the lockbox from the piece and preventingit from falling out at, random, substantiallyfas herein set forth.v r

3. The cartridge-ejector J ,constructedasde scribed, in combination with the cam 0 on the ,front'pivoti 13, for the purpose of ejecting. the shell of the old cartridge, substantially as herein set forth and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing'I' have hereunto set-myhand'this 18th day'of' 

